By Soeren from Denmark (rated 4 stars of 5)
030415 (Refers to the 1980 release)

If Sister Sledge's "Love Somebody Today" album
was Nile'n Nard's first album (give and take the Norma Jean album) that
failed to produce any commercial hits, they easily made up for it on their
subsequent collaboration with Diana Ross herself. The legendary troublesome
productions with Miss Ross feeling like a guest vocalist on her own album
lead to her remixing the entire album much to Nile'n Nard's fury but it
ended up becoming Diana's bestselling album ever. Not surprisingly, the
first single "Upside Down"
with its impossibly catchy nursery rhyme chorus and unstoppable groove became
a surefire hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The tight beat and insisting
chorus of "Tenderness"
make it sound like a clear contender for a single - it eventually was a
post-release in 1981, issued by Motown to compete with Diana's first album
on RCA but failed to gain the attention that it actually deserved. The typically
CHIC-style-ballad "Friend To
Friend" was well-suited if unspectacular for Diana. She came to
far more glory on the funky, brassy and dead-tight "I'm
Coming Out" with double-entendres to her break with Motown - the
gay community quickly adopted the song as well. Released as a single, this
was another huge hit. Interestingly, "Have
Fun (Again)" was the song Bernard & Nile had originally wanted
as the lead-off single for the album - arguably an interesting track, owing
more to the funky breaks though than to Miss Ross' vocal, but hardly a song
that sounded like a hit. "My
Old Piano" was better - the album's third hit single is a rousing
performance both vocally and musically, featuring an elegant piano/guitar
chase outro. The semi-latin-ballad "Now
That You're Gone" is good but nothing really special, whereas Diana
really lets down her hair on the up-tempo "Give
Up" which makes for a great finale. I'm awarding "Diana"
4 out of 5 stars, the lack of the final star partially due to the two comparably
bland ballads, and partially because Miss Ross shouldn't fiddle with Nile'n
Nard's mixes. Hands off please!